About This Fund
Asha Ventures Fund I is the debut impact-oriented venture capital fund of Asha Ventures, an Indian venture capital manager co-founded in 2015 by Vikram Gandhi, former head of Morgan Stanley India, and Pramod Bhasin, former president and CEO of Genpact. The fund targets high-growth, impact-focused early-to-growth stage startups across India that create measurable positive social impact alongside financial returns. Asha Ventures marked the first close of Fund I at $50 million in December 2023, targeting a total corpus of $91 million. In April 2025, British International Investment (BII), the UK's development finance institution, committed $10 million to the fund, reflecting its alignment with BII's mandate to catalyze private investment in developing markets. The fund typically invests between $2 million and $10 million per company, deploying capital in four to five startups per year. Key sectors include financial services and fintech, healthcare, education, climate technology, and agriculture — all sectors with significant unmet demand and social impact potential in the Indian market. Anchor LPs include the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI), the Self-Reliant India (SRI) Fund, the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD), and several family offices. Portfolio companies include Adda 24×7 (edtech), Vaastu Housing Finance, Avanti (educational finance), Nepra (resource management), Truemeds (pharmacy), and AutoMony (auto financing), demonstrating breadth across the firm's target sectors.